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THE NEW YORK TIMES: THE STATUE FROM AZERBAIJAN HAS PUT THE MAYOR OF MEXICO CITY IN A BIND
arminfo
Wednesday, November 14, 13:49
The situation over the statue of Heydar Aliyev in Mexico City has
received comments from not only Mexican but also US mass media.
An article in the New York Times says: "The statue portrays Heydar
Aliyev, who ruled Azerbaijan with a stern hand after the breakup of
the Soviet Union. A K.G.B. general and Communist Party boss, who died
in 2003, Mr. Aliyev made himself the center of a cult of personality,
his image gracing villages across the tiny country. The admiration
has spread since his son, Ilham H. Aliyev, became president nine years
ago. Statues have gone up in Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt, Georgia,
Romania and Serbia in homage to the father of modern Azerbaijan.
"During [Mexico City Mayor Marcelo] Ebrard's six-year term, this city
has aspired to be a progressive New World capital, legalizing abortion
and approving same-sex marriage. Often sounding more like the mayor
of a Scandinavian capital than of a Latin American megalopolis, Mr.
Ebrard has promoted bike-sharing programs and championed urban gardens
and buildings constructed with the environment in mind. 'This is a
liberal city; this is a city which has nothing to do with anything
that could be called a dictatorship," Mr. Ebrard said in an interview.
'We believe in democracy and human rights.' But the statue - a gift,
along with the garden, from Azerbaijan - has put the mayor in a bind.
The United States State Department repeatedly pointed out Azerbaijan's
poor human rights record under Mr. Aliyev, which included serious
abuses and the suppression of democracy. A few weeks after his
bronze figure materialized along Mexico City's Paseo de la Reforma,
newspaper columnists, radio hosts and human rights activists began
to press for its removal. 'In Mexico City, on our main avenue, our
Champs Elysees, there are statues of Gandhi, Churchill - and Aliyev,'
said Denise Dresser, a writer and academic who sits on a citizens'
commission that oversees projects for Chapultepec Park, which is
Mexico's own Central Park.
"Mr. Ebrard looked for a way to stem the damage that is tarnishing he
end of his term. The mayor, who has been open about his presidential
ambitions in 2018, will hand the city over next month to a successor
from his own left-wing party, whose landslide win this summer was
widely seen as a vote of approval of Mr. Ebrard's stewardship. 'It's a
mistake, and we should have evaluated that this could be problematic,'
Mr. Ebrard said. 'Since they said, 'This is the father of the country,
Azerbaijan opened relations with Mexico in 2004, everything's O.K.,
we are part of the United Nations, we have elections,' we didn't
think there would be a problem.
"Arguing that Azerbaijan is a struggling young democracy, the Azeri
ambassador, Ilgar Mukhtarov, said: 'Behind all this movement in
Mexico is the strong Armenian lobby. They gave the wrong opinion
about Heydar Aliyev.'
Concerning the plaque commemorating the so-called Khojaly massacre,
the newspaper says: "Nobody in the city government bothered to check
the text on the plaque, which calls the massacre a genocide. The
small but influential Armenian-Mexican community complained. So did
the government of Armenia."
"To find a diplomatic solution, Mr. Ebrard has appointed a three-man
committee and promised to follow its recommendations, not only about
the statue and the plaque but also about how to make decisions a
little more transparent..."
"...Mr. Mukhtarov warned that removing the statue by force would not
be interpreted as a friendly move, and he wondered at all the fuss in
Mexico. 'I think they have other problems to concentrate their minds
on more than a monument," he said. "For us, it is a really big issue.'"
arminfo
Wednesday, November 14, 13:49
The situation over the statue of Heydar Aliyev in Mexico City has
received comments from not only Mexican but also US mass media.
An article in the New York Times says: "The statue portrays Heydar
Aliyev, who ruled Azerbaijan with a stern hand after the breakup of
the Soviet Union. A K.G.B. general and Communist Party boss, who died
in 2003, Mr. Aliyev made himself the center of a cult of personality,
his image gracing villages across the tiny country. The admiration
has spread since his son, Ilham H. Aliyev, became president nine years
ago. Statues have gone up in Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt, Georgia,
Romania and Serbia in homage to the father of modern Azerbaijan.
"During [Mexico City Mayor Marcelo] Ebrard's six-year term, this city
has aspired to be a progressive New World capital, legalizing abortion
and approving same-sex marriage. Often sounding more like the mayor
of a Scandinavian capital than of a Latin American megalopolis, Mr.
Ebrard has promoted bike-sharing programs and championed urban gardens
and buildings constructed with the environment in mind. 'This is a
liberal city; this is a city which has nothing to do with anything
that could be called a dictatorship," Mr. Ebrard said in an interview.
'We believe in democracy and human rights.' But the statue - a gift,
along with the garden, from Azerbaijan - has put the mayor in a bind.
The United States State Department repeatedly pointed out Azerbaijan's
poor human rights record under Mr. Aliyev, which included serious
abuses and the suppression of democracy. A few weeks after his
bronze figure materialized along Mexico City's Paseo de la Reforma,
newspaper columnists, radio hosts and human rights activists began
to press for its removal. 'In Mexico City, on our main avenue, our
Champs Elysees, there are statues of Gandhi, Churchill - and Aliyev,'
said Denise Dresser, a writer and academic who sits on a citizens'
commission that oversees projects for Chapultepec Park, which is
Mexico's own Central Park.
"Mr. Ebrard looked for a way to stem the damage that is tarnishing he
end of his term. The mayor, who has been open about his presidential
ambitions in 2018, will hand the city over next month to a successor
from his own left-wing party, whose landslide win this summer was
widely seen as a vote of approval of Mr. Ebrard's stewardship. 'It's a
mistake, and we should have evaluated that this could be problematic,'
Mr. Ebrard said. 'Since they said, 'This is the father of the country,
Azerbaijan opened relations with Mexico in 2004, everything's O.K.,
we are part of the United Nations, we have elections,' we didn't
think there would be a problem.
"Arguing that Azerbaijan is a struggling young democracy, the Azeri
ambassador, Ilgar Mukhtarov, said: 'Behind all this movement in
Mexico is the strong Armenian lobby. They gave the wrong opinion
about Heydar Aliyev.'
Concerning the plaque commemorating the so-called Khojaly massacre,
the newspaper says: "Nobody in the city government bothered to check
the text on the plaque, which calls the massacre a genocide. The
small but influential Armenian-Mexican community complained. So did
the government of Armenia."
"To find a diplomatic solution, Mr. Ebrard has appointed a three-man
committee and promised to follow its recommendations, not only about
the statue and the plaque but also about how to make decisions a
little more transparent..."
"...Mr. Mukhtarov warned that removing the statue by force would not
be interpreted as a friendly move, and he wondered at all the fuss in
Mexico. 'I think they have other problems to concentrate their minds
on more than a monument," he said. "For us, it is a really big issue.'"